In _ante bellum_ times, the present Patten plantation was known first as the Gamble, and afterward as the Cofield and Davis plantation, and was the largest and most thoroughly equipped sugar plantation in the State of Florida. The owners worked 200 hands, and had 1,400 acres of sugar-cane in one field. Their sugar-mill and refinery contained all the modern appliances, and, at the commencement of the war, was worth half a million dollars. Soon after the breaking out of hostilities, most of the slaves were sent to Louisiana, and work on the plantation was abandoned. During the last year of the war, a Federal gunboat entered the Manatee Bay, and a boat's crew, commanded by an officer, blew up the sugar-house and set fire to the refinery. The destruction was complete; and to-day may be seen the ponderous fly-wheel of the engine, broken shafts and crumbling walls--sad mementos of the event. The family mansion, a large two-story brick structure, with galleries around three sides of both stories, escaped the hand of the destroyer. Although bearing the finger-marks of time, it is at this day, a substantial structure, and, with slight repairs, would weather the storms of another century. Connected with this old mansion is a history, now for the first time published. Within these walls during the last days of the Southern Confederacy, when that fabric (on paper) was fast crumbling to pieces, Judah P. Benjamin, a fugitive from justice, and flying for his life under the assumed name of Charles Howard, was the guest for nearly two months of Captain Archibald McNeill, its then occupant. When on that memorable Sunday, in the spring of 1865, Jeff. Davis and his cabinet hastily fled from Richmond, Benjamin and Breckinridge struck out for the wilds of Florida, which seemed to offer a secure retreat. Arrived at Gainsville, Breckinridge sought refuge on the Atlantic coast, and Benjamin, under the guidance of Captain L. G. Leslie, started for the Gulf coast, _via_ Tampa, and arrived safely at the mansion of Captain McNeill. After remaining nearly two months at Captain McNeill's, Benjamin was conveyed in a boat to Manatee, and from thence to Sarasoto Bay in a horse-cart, by Rev. E. Glazier, of Manatee; from thence to Cape Florida in a small sail-boat, commanded by Captain Fred. Tresca, also a resident of Manatee. At Cape Florida a larger boat was procured, and after several hair-breadth escapes from Federal gunboats and the perils of the sea, Captain Tresca landed his charge safely on one of the islands of the Bahama group, and returned to Manatee $1,500 richer than when he left home. Benjamin reached England safely, where he has acquired fame and fortune. Should this page by chance meet his eye, he will no doubt be pleased to learn that Captain McNeill, past threescore and ten, has retired from active life and settled in Manatee, surrounded by a large family. Captain Tresca, or Captain "Fred.," as he is called by his